The Budget
by Naseka
Summary: The palace is suffering financially and as a result, there are some funding cuts. Will the staff be content with the new budget?


Just a little bit of fun I created after realising how poor the security system is in the second movie. Enjoy.

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><p>It was a difficult time for the staff members at the palace, though Genovia's population had risen by two per cent since the announcement of the new princess, there seemed to be a lack of funds to manage the upkeep of the palace. A meeting was called and the cut-backs were announced shortly after. The queen herself was present at the meeting, sitting in an elaborate chair as Charlotte read out the notes she'd taken earlier.<p>

"Garden funding will be cut by ten thousand a quarter, kitchen - six thousand a quarter, housekeeping - five thousand a quarter..."

For several minutes, Charlotte read out various cuts to other departments, the outrage and pleas for more funding growing louder as she went on.

"Finally, security will be cut by fifteen thousand a quarter."

Joseph looked to Clarisse with a '_how could you?' _expression on his face, to which she turned away and closed her eyes. He tried to speak over the chattery crowd about how much it would jeopardise the safety of their new princess when she came to stay, but the queen put her hand up in dismissal and stood, "People, please! Charlotte has informed you of our situation and as desperate times call for desperate measures, we must accept the new changes and keep the palace running as smoothly as possible."

Almost all at once the crowd began shouting their questions towards the queen, but she politely told them to direct their concerns to Charlotte, who looked terrified at having been put on the spot. Clarisse turned away and walked briskly up the stairs to her office, more than aware that she was being closely followed by her head of security. Once inside, she sat at her desk beaming with delight as he approached her, looking down with an unreadable face.

"Congratulations, you now have the entire staff thinking we're on the verge of bankruptcy."

Smugly she looked up at him, "Are you questioning my decision?"

"Questioning? No, however I think you may have to reconsider the security budget."

"Have I not left you enough to man the outside perimeter of the palace?"

"There's enough for that," he shrugged, taking a seat without asking permission.

"Surely there's enough to post guards at every entrance to the palace?"

"Indeed there is, Your Majesty."

"And cameras will still cover the entire building inside and out?"

His tone softened as he continued speaking with her, "I'll have to program them all to the one monitor, however, they won't be running all at once. And unfortunately we won't be able to record every hour of the day anymore, as tapes do cost money, so there will be a series of grey areas in which people can potentially get away with...inappropriate behaviour."

Swivelling her chair gently from side to side with her arms together on the desk, she smiled playfully, "Well that would be unfortunate. Please tell me more of this inappropriate behaviour?"

"Well," he grinned, baring his teeth, "One could sneak a snack from the kitchen at night."

Pretending to be concerned, she placed a finger on her cheek, "Go on..."

"Or walk around without a tie and nobody would be the wiser."

"I see..."

"One could steal a kiss from one's love on the staircase without anyone ever finding out."

Clarisse's eyes closed momentarily, as if in a dream, but quickly fluttered open again, "What of the men who stand outside my door? Can we still afford them?"

Joseph nodded, "Regretably yes."

"So what your saying is that a fifteen thousand dollar cut will only affect the surveillance cameras?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"How much of a cut do you need to remove the men from outside my door?"

"About another ten thousand," Joseph laughed woefully as he shook his head.

The queen placed her palm on her forehead, "Damn, I thought I'd gotten it right this time."

"Unfortunately not, my dear."

Silently she made a fist with her hand, embarrassed at the mistake she'd made. She then thought hard for a moment, before unclenching her fist and handing Joseph a pen and paper. He gave her a questioning look, to which she responded, "It's too late to change the budget now, but we can start on the next quarter..."

"Actually," Joseph mentioned as he clicked the pen out, before touching it to the paper, "This might work to our advantage having two smaller cuts over a longer period, rather than one large and sudden cut."

"Why is that?" She asked as she got up from her chair and moved around the desk to where he was sitting.

He took her hand and held it gently, smiling sweetly up at her, "Because this way, nobody will suspect a thing."

The blushing smile on her face said it all as he pressed his lips to the hand he was holding and rubbed her fingers with his thumb. The plan may not have gone smoothly this time around, but there were only four months until the next quarter...surely the two of them could wait until then?


End file.
